Oceano - Contagion

You can’t fault Oceano’s ability to pen pummelling deathcore. ‘Contagion’, the Chicago group’s sophomore disc, smartly blitzes all the genre’s most-used traits (diminished fifths, breakdown chugs, alternatepicked discordance) but as a result struggles to foster identity. Oceano’s palette of choice aged and wheezing, the band are forced to rely upon the weary building blocks of latter-day death metal in the vulnerable moments where they break rank, as on ‘Quarantine’. However, Adam Warren’s barks are otherworldly as always, and the death bruisers pace some beneficial texture into the album’s mid-section. Oceano thrive outside the box, unfortunately ‘Contagion’ frequently takes cover.